Formal handwriting is generally introduced in Kindergarten in the form of learning capital and lower case letter formation. Lower case letters can be grouped into three different types: letters such as b, d, f, h, k, l and t, which include ascenders, that is, a portion that rises above the body of the letter; letters such as g, j, p, q and y, which include descenders, that is, a portion that falls below the body of the letter; and letters such as a, c, e, m, n and so forth, that include neither an ascender or descender.
Letter and numeral formation are taught on primary paper that includes pairs of horizontal parallel lines divided by a horizontal dotted or dashed line. The distance from an upper boundary line to a baseline on primary paper is generally ¾″ to 1″, and allows a young child to use the large muscles of the arm and hand to learn/feel the motor patterns for letter and numeral formation. The dotted or dashed line divides the space between the upper boundary line and baseline into two equal parts. This type of paper is illustrated by the instructional writing papers of U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,332 to Jones, which uses a green upper boundary line and a red baseline, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,696 to O'Neill, and also by Right-Line Paper, which is marked © 1972 by PRO-ED, Inc.
Also known as exemplified by T-K Writing Program Narrow-Line Spacing Paper, marked © 1997 by PRO-ED, Inc., is an instructional writing paper printed in a three-space, four-line grid format that includes non-writing bands that separate the three-space, four-line formats, and a space below the baseline for descenders. This type of instructional paper includes lightly shaded vertical lines that provide approximately ⅜″ wide spaces to cue letter and word spacing, and includes left and right margin lines. Like primary dotted line paper, this paper further includes a dashed line serving as a reference for the x-height of a letter, that is, the height of the body of a lower case letter. The baseline and dashed line cooperate to provide x-height spaces of approximately ⅜″ height. Other than the dashed lines, the horizontal lines are raised lines, which are particularly useful with learners with special needs who need kinesthetic feedback to print within boundaries. This paper may be visually overstimulating for some learners.
In learning penmanship, children must progress from learning letter formation to legibly printing words and sentences. Factors that contribute to legible writing include correct letter formation, consistent size and height of letters, alignment of letters on the line, and spacing between letters and words. Many of these skills are undeveloped at the time of the transition from primary dotted line paper to wide ruled notebook paper. Many learners run their words together and have difficulty adhering to margins.
To guide some learners in the transition to lined notebook paper, some teachers have tried with some success to use graph paper as writing paper. However, graph paper is not intended for use as a writing paper. Each letter tends to fill up an entire box. In any event, graph paper leaves much to be desired.
There therefore continues to be a longfelt need for a writing paper and educational system and method useful for guiding penmanship learners in transitioning from learning letter formation to legibly printing words and sentences. Beneficially, such a writing paper, system and method would teach margination and appropriate spacing, and assist learners to increase the precision, speed and duration of printing letters, words and sentences. Furthermore, it would be advantageous for such a writing paper and educational system and method to assist learners in the transition to lined notebook paper.